I liked this book a lot! It’s a cute, quick read!

I kept feeling this pit in my stomach because of Carrie’s and Nick’s circumstances and I had no idea how the plot was going to work itself out. I was okay with the ending. It really sucked that Nick had this huge crush on her the whole time and decided to become a vampire… & then for that to be the way Carrie finally notices and develops feelings for him!!!… ugh. This is just my preference but I think it’s silly that he just automatically falls asleep during daylight hours regardless where he is.. it’s so restricting.

Carrie was an interesting character. I was very shocked to read her first few chapters and then to learn she let her parents and sister bulldoze over her the way they did. When her parents showed up to give her an “intervention” I was like OOOOHHH PLEASE DON’T JUST TAKE IT. I was so happy she found her voice and stood on her views and opinions regardless of how many people tried to convince her otherwise. Her friends were amazing to her and I loved their dynamics.

3.5 stars, rounded up—I went into this expecting a quick, lighthearted read, and that's mostly what I got only to be pleasantly surprised by the added layers of depth. By far, this book's greatest strength is its focus on Carrie's personal coming of age. At the start, she's a little directionless and lacking the confidence she needs to pursue what she really wants. Watching her grow was relatable and rewarding. Where the book lost me a bit was in the romance itself, which I found to be a little lukewarm, and its handling of vampire/slayer dynamics which seemed to be acting as a metaphor for real-world racism and bigotry. I admire the author's desire to address this topic but just felt that the book's scope didn't allow the narrative to do so in a meaningful way.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

This book was pretty funny. I thought the narrator did a good job. I also enjoyed the messages in the story about body positivity. This is the first book I have read by Gloria Duke, and I don't think it will be the last! This is a delightful read for spooky season!


Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Such a fun read! I adored Carrie so much, she'd make a great BFF. Her struggles through acting, her family and of course being a surprise slayer felt so real without being too bogged down. It was the perfect light read for me.

Thank you to netgallery and the publisher for this audiobook ARC!
2.5 stars rounded down

This book wasn't bad, but it wasn't good. It couldn't seem to keep a consistent tone. The language was very family friendly much of the time (lots of uses of butt and heck where other words could have been), which I wouldn't complain about, except there's an explicit sex scene, which just did not mesh with the tone of the writing. Then it's also extremely campy a lot of the time, but then it randomly decides to tackle racism in a very on-the-nose type of way.

It was cute and fun in many instances, but those instances became cringier when paired with the more serious attempts because you couldn't tell if the book was meant to be over the top campy or not. I think My Roommate is a Vampire had a very familiar vibe it aimed for, and I was hoping to see it in this as well, but the flat writing just made it all fall short.

I think people could enjoy this if they like easy, silly reads. Like, if you enjoy Disney Channel movie type books, you very likely will enjoy this one. I normally do, but eh. Not this time.

I just finished a spooky listen just in time for the fall season. Vampires Never Say Die was a great listen.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC!!

I really enjoyed this book!! It was so cute!! I enjoyed the setting and all of the characters! I loved the story! Such good writing style!!

Vampire never say die by Gloria Duke
Release Date : Aug 20th 2024
ARC from Dreamscape Media on net galley
Here were my thoughts while reading the book:
-Carrie is a funny, independent, serious and disciplined women. She’s an aspiring actrice who turns vampire and now has to navigate this new world. I loved seeing her transform and find her new normal. She literally wakes up a vampire lol.
-love learning of behind the scenes of being an actrice and going to auditions, I found that cool
- Nick tries to help her figure out her vampire life (he the reason she’s a vampire)
- Her being in the field of art and her family seeing that as nothing is so real
- They are not only vampire but vampire slayer slayyyyy
- Ouuu the spice is spicing two vampires in bed what could happen ? lol
- I will say there were parts I felt a bit bored
- But Carrie and Nick carried the book
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.75 ⭐️

This was overall cute. I enjoyed the communication, mostly, between the main character and the love interest. I think they acted like mature adults. And I really appreciate the scenes with the best friends, always understanding and always there for each other. I wasn’t 100% sold on the love between the two characters, however, it did feel a little bit insta-lovey. But I digress. It’s a cute halloween-y kinda romance read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced listening copy of Vampires Never Say Die! This was a quick and easy vampire romance, with a much lighter theme and story than most (no angsty teenagers or immortal villains here). Loved the body positivity message and enemies-to-lovers storyline!

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

There were a few places where Vampires Never Say Die fell flat for me:

1) Character development - we didn't get much depth from anyone. While we did see some growth in Carrie's character, it wasn't enough to carry the entire book.

2) Chemistry - I'm perfectly fine with minimal spice, but the actual chemistry between the two characters was supposed to be driving the romance and I never really felt it.

Rating
3.75 stars

Spice minimal

This book follow our FMC who is an aspiring actress and has a lot of body image issues due to the unrealistic expectations Hollywood puts on women especially to look a certain way. One day she finds herself changed, more muscular, stronger with a sudden urge to….kill? Overnight she became a slayer, out to kill her newly changed coworker who drives her insane. Can she control her urges to kill, and maybe fall in love trying?

This book was the best kind of cheese. It’s sweet and funny and as long as you don’t try to take it too seriously it’s a good little read. I recommend this to anyone looking for a lighthearted cheesy rom com with slight Buffy the vampire slayer vibes

“vampires never say die” unfortunately reads like a poorly made wattpad story. i’m thankful that it wasn’t much longer, as i likely would have DNF-ed it. the book had very clichéd writing, with stereotypical phrases like “i released the breath i didn’t realize i was holding”. there was a whole lot of telling and not a lot of showing, and it’s important for there to be a balance of both.

i didn’t feel like the romantic pairing of the book, carrie and nick, had much chemistry at all. as someone who grew up on “buffy the vampire slayer”, my expectations were high from buffy and angel. “vampires never say die” missed the mark with the story’s couple, though. what didn’t help is i didn’t feel connected to any of the characters whatsoever. the “steamy scene” between nick and carrie wasn’t the most enjoyable to read… it felt extremely awkward. nick quite literally asked for consent with every. single. move. he made. consent is important, but this was too much. the last minute breakup scene with only 5% of the book left felt messily thrown in. this made carrie and nick “make up” way too quickly.

the portrayal of vampire slayers was certainly creative, but i didn’t love it. i’ve never seen slayers have pyrokinesis or the ability to fly. while slayers do generally possess a substantial amount of strength, these additional abilities just felt weird and out of place. additionally, in this reality, a slayer’s job would be extremely easy, considering vampires actually sleep during the night???

carrie’s gig she landed on the tv show (and her acting career as a whole) felt like it was put on the back-burner toward the end of the book. it was an important, pivotal moment in her character arc, and then it was abandoned for basically the rest of the story.

thank you to netgalley and dreamscape media for the ALC!

tropes:
- slayer x vampire
- forbidden love
- curvy FMC

I didn’t love this. Usually, enemies to lovers is absolutely my thing but this felt a bit too “I’m not like other girls” while also being tropey. I listened to 60% but eventually stopped, as it was making me feel frustrated.

I enjoyed this sooo much more than the first book.
There is still some body insecurity in this one, but it makes more sense here and is thrust upon our FMC more than internally repeating.
The story is fun, there's some cute banter and then the author threw in some body positivity in strength which I adored!

Much love to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for my ALC

This one was cute - I liked the first book better, but it was definitely a really enjoyable read!

It’s light paranormal, hint of Buffy, a confused new slayer meets her vampire foe and has to figure out her new lifestyle and if she’s actually supposed to end the enemy and defend the world from his kind, or if she actually likes and wants him and she’s actually in an enemies to lovers situation, or if he’s using vampire charms to keep himself safe from the slayer…

A quick and easy, fun and very light vampire romance read. Definitely opposite of most dark and heavy and angsty vampire romances out there (think a steamy twilight, but actually good)! I think most everyone out there is going to really have a good time reading this one.

I listened to the audio, which is narrated by Fiona Arrington, a voice new to me (I still am amazed, after all these years, when I come across an unfamiliar narrator), who did a fantastic job.

I received an advance read and listen copy from NetGalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca and Dreamscape Media, and this is my honest feedback.

The characters make you want to root for them! Especially with names like Carrie and Nick Stokes! There is workplace romance that has an unexpected effect. Spice level 2-3. Do not recommend listening out load while at work 🙄 There is an additional layer with a judgemental family and a character you need to hate. Great message of standing up for friends!

Vampires Never Say Die is a cute, funny paranormal rom-com with likable characters and an interesting storyline. I loved it because I needed a break from serious, sad books and it was uplifting and made me smile a lot! I enjoyed the character growth from Carrie and her chemistry with Nick was off the charts spicy! And Carrie’s best friends and support circle are just what I’d want my circle to be - empathetic, quirky, forgiving and loving. It is the second in a series, and I’d read the first previously, but honestly I didn’t feel like I had needed to read it beforehand.

𝐀𝐑𝐂: Thank you Netgalley for this opportunity
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️ - I liked that there were vampires…
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 🌶 - If I am being nice
𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: August 20, 2024

….

….

Let me first by saying thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this. I love being able to review ARCs because I know not everyone is approved.

I had high hopes for this because who doesn’t love a good vampire book?

When I saw this I was intrigued I was thinking Romeo and Juliet but vampire edition… which it was but there were quite a few things that I wish were better. For example, I wish the 25-year-old MCs were better at talking. Considering that the MMC grew up in the foster care system you would think that he would have a better communication system and that the FMC who was going to be a lawyer would be good with words.

On top of that there were so many plot holes while I was reading and I was just sad… to be a slayer you have to meet some specific requirements and then the FMC specifically states that she doesn’t necessarily meet them so then I'm thinking how is she a slayer.

I was able to listen to this on the audio and while it was nice I wasn't the biggest fine, the person who did it I felt like wasn't able to portray the people very well they were either not very different or majorly different and not how I would have pictured. I think I would have enjoyed reading this more.

This book has:
🌑 Vampire/Slayer
🌑 Actress
🌑 Bartender

Kind og silly, and kind of sweet!
I like action-packed rom-com's :D And the body-positivty was beautiful!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with an ALC of this novel!

4.5/5 ⭐️
1/5 🌶️
4/5 🎧

This story was giving Buffy and Angel vibes. And as a millennial who grew up watching Buffy, I couldn’t help but picture both of them in these character’s roles. The narrator even sounded a bit like Sarah Michelle Gellar! I do with they’d had a male narrator and done a duet narration, but overall I enjoyed the narrator.

But, the story. THE STORY. It had wit and humor. It romance and parts that made you swoon. It had a bit of spice. It had some action. And it had parts that made me mad (as authors love to do to use poor readers from time to time). While I said it reminded me of Buffy and Angel, let me reiterate that it is nowhere near their story. This started as an enemies to lovers but felt more fated mates by the end. But, I’ll let you decide for yourself!